Alex Ramsay - contemporary silversmith

Award at The Hammerclub

Thu, 20 May 2010 19:32:45 +0000

In May 2010 I attended a symposium of European silversmiths held in Copenhagen, called Hammerclub. About 150 silversmiths from all over Europe, and as far afield as New Zealand, attended and enjoyed a programme of talks, a tour of the George Jensen Workshops, and made work for an exhibition to the theme ‘Objects of Light’. I made a pair of Nitrate Negative Bowls for the exhibition and was delighted to win second prize. This was a unique and very special award to win because it was voted for by the gathered silversmiths and visitors to the Museum.

Many people also took their hammers to Denmark to make a collective silver bowl, which was to be a gift to The Museum of Art & Design. There is a fascinating (although quite noisy!) film on the Hammerclub website, which shows the bowl making process. It takes about 30 seconds for the actual filming to begin, after several still shots.

There was also plenty of time for socialising, wandering around Copenhagen and getting lost, exchanging thoughts and techniques with fellow silversmiths, and a general feeling that the community of silversmithing is alive, well and going from strength to strength.

Egyptian Glass Necklace

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:13:57 +0000

I have recently finished an intriguing necklace for a client, which is made of glass he collected in the Egyptain desert. He told me the story of how a meteor had hit the desert thousands of years ago, turning much of the sand into glass. He had collected some pieces on a recent trip and he wanted a silversmith to make them into a necklace for his wife.

This was a very challenging project technically – as each piece of glass is irregular in form and an individual setting had to be made for each one. The glass is also quite heavy, so solutions to hanging the pieces comfortably on the neck had to be investigated. I am delighted to report that the necklace and matching earrings have been a huge success with his wife, and I am currently working on a matching ring to complete the set.

Glass Blowing in Budapest, Hungary

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:34:54 +0000

My glass has been made by a talented glass blower called James Carcass for many years. Once based in London, he is now living in Hungary with his wife and son. I visited their studio while Hungary was covered in thick snow, to watch a batch of new glass being made and to help in its production. This trip was also a wonderful opportunity for me to work as an assistant for a few days and be involved in the making process.

The Glass Workshop

James shaping the hot glass in a piece of wet leather at the beginning of the glass blowing process, and later applying copper to the hot surface to create the texture and patterns that appear in the finished object.

Nitrate Negatives – photography

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:05:14 +0000

I took some photographs of the glass bowls with a powerful light behind them, and produced some interesting pictures of the patterns on the surface of the glass. These images were the beginnings of my ideas around positive and negative, light and dark and referencing the beautiful colours of silver nitrate photography and negatives.

Through these experiments I started to explore what would happen if i reversed these patterns as a pierced pattern or surface on the silver – creating The Nitrate Negative Series.